Rail-anchor.



E. LAAS.

RAIL ANCHOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.21,191 1.

Patented Jan. 5

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I {VII/ll m' 1 15 M 701a.

.4 TTORNE )5 E. LAAS. RAIL ANCHOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 21.1914

Patented Jan. 5, 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

E. LAAS. RAIL ANCHOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 21,1914.

Patented J an. 5-, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

NVLN TOR.

EDWARD LAAS, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO OTTO R. BARNETT, OF

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RAIL-ANCHOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented ell {Mll- 5, 1915..

Application filed February 21, 1914. Serial No. 820,198.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD LAAs, a citizen of the United States, residing at'Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Anchors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to rail anchors, sometimes called rail stays or anticreepers. The invention provides a device or expedient, capable of being used in a variety of different embodiments and in'rail anchors of diflerenttypes, for the purpose of absorbing looseness in the grip of the anchor on the rail and also vibration tending to produce looseness, thereby holding the gripping surfaces under tension, and otherwise preventing the hold of the anchor on'the rail base from becoming ineffective. A rail anchor or anticreeping device consists essentially of clamping or gripping means designed to take a hold on the rail, usually on the base of the rail, and a member or part which operates to hold the device in a stationary position as against the tendency of 'the rail to creep. Most of the rail anchors used at the present time are designed to engage the base of the rail adjacent one of the cross ties and are provided with tie abutting flanges which bear against the forward faces of said ties, having reference to the direction of the creeping movement intended to be checked. In many types the anchor is constructed and disposed on the rail so that the creeping tendency increases the grip of the device on the rail with the result that the creeping tendency is self-checking through the instrumentality of the anchor. But even with this type of device there must be an initial grip on the rail of a certain closeness and tenacity, otherwise the forward thrust of the rail carries it through the anchor instead of producing the intended tightening of the grip of the anchor by means of which the creep of the rail is checked. A rail anchor may become loose on the rail through a variety of different causes, for example, difference in contraction and expansion of the rail due to changes in temperature and the vibration of the rail under the wheels of the train. Furthermore, the hold of rail anchors of certain types, for example, single piece anchors and those op erating on. the wedge principle, may be loosened because of the reactive back thrust or impulse which is supposed to take place after the forward or creeping impulse has ceased, that is, immediately after the wheels of the train have passed over the portion of the rail engaged by the anchor. My invention provides a simple, inexpensive expedient, adaptable to a large number of different types of rail anchors or anticreep ing devices, which operates to keep the engagement of the anchor with the rail from becoming loose as against any or all of the forces and stresses tending to loosen it.

The invention is illustrated, in certain preferred embodiments, as applied 'to certain familiar types of rail anchors, in the accompanying drawings wherein Figure 1 is an elevation of a rail anchor of the wedge type with the device of my invention applied thereto, the anchor being shown as applied to a rail with the latter in section. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the anchor shown in Fig. 1 with certain parts in section;

Fig. 3, a sectional view, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1 Fig. 4, a view, in perspective, of the wedge member of the anchor fitted with the elastic element for absorbing vibration andlooseness in accordance with my invention; Fig. 5, a view, similar to Fig. 2, illustrating a modification according to which the elastic element is provided with teeth engaging teeth on the surface with which it engages; Fig. 6,, a sectional view of a bolt type of anchor with the device of my invention ap plied thereto. Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional plan taken on line 77 of Fig. (i, and Fig. 8, a plan view, with parts in section, of a one-piece anchor fitted. with an elastic element for absorbing vibration and looseness.

Like characters of reference designate like Referring first to Figs. 1 to 1 inclusive, 10 designates a rail and 11 one of the ties supporting the same. The rail anchor shown in these figures is of the wedge type consisting of a bar or strip 12 and a wedge 13. The bar extends under the'base of the-rail and is formed on one end with a jaw 13 engaging one edge of the base flange of the rail, and on the other end, with a preferably larger jaw 14 which receives the wedge member 13. The latter is preferably provided with a groove 15 to engage the edge of the base flange of the rail. This end of the bar 12'is provided with a tieabutting flange or plate 16 which bears against the tie 11.

In the preferred construction shown the jaw 13 stands out of contact with the tie so that a forward creep of the rail tends to rock the anchor against the tie, with the flange 16 as a fulcrum, thereby increasing the grip of the anchor on the rail. The creeping tendency of the rail is thus selfchecking.

' The outer edge of the wedge member 13 is formed with a recess17 in which is arranged a bowed spring 18, which, if not compressed, projects out beyond the outer face 19 -of the wedge as shown in Fig. 4. When the wedge is driven into place between the jaw 1 1 and the edge of the rail base, the inner surface of the jaw. If a change in temperature causes an unequal expansion or contraction as between the anchor and the rail, the spring takes up or absorbs the looseness which would otherwise result, and maintains the hold of the anchor upon the rail or at least insures a grip of sufli-- cient closeness and tenacity to make certain the self-checking action above mentioned. The spring provides also a cushion between the parts of the anchor which operates to deaden vibration so that the danger of the parts of the anchor being shaken loose from each other because of the vibratory movements of the rail is very much diminished.

The spring also, because of its frictional en- 'gagement with the inner surface of jaw 14,

helps to prevent the wedge from being backed out of the jaw by reaction of the rail which is supposed to take place afterthe train has passed, or other causes. Preferably the spring and the recess 17 in which it seats are so formed and proportioned that the-spring can be compressed to a position flush with the outer surface 19 of the wedge, thus permitting a frictional grip as between this rigid surface and the inner surface of the 'aw. In other words, the interposition of t e spring, while providing a resilient gripping surface, does not do away with the normal rigid engagement as between the rail, the jaw and the wedge. It s particularly important that a rigid relation should exist between the anchor and the rail in view of the cramping or binding of the device on the rail which takes place when the creep of the rail is transmitted to the free end of the anchor, that is, to the end on which. jaw 13 is formed. Preferably, therefore, the wedge 13, in applying the anchor to the rail, is driven in until the surface 19 comes into intimate contact with the inner surface of the jaw.

Inthe anchor shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, the engagement of the spring 18 the spring 18 is compressed againstv with the innersurface of jaw 14: is purely a frictional engagement. It is possible, however, to make this engagement a positive one. Thus in Fig. 5 I have shown the 'spring element 18 formed with teeth which engage similarly formed teeth on the inner surface of jaw 14:. As the wedge is driven in the spring 18 will yield so as to allow its teeth to ride over and engage with the teeth on the jaw. By this expedient the wedge is positively prevented from backing out of the jaw.

In Figs. 6 and 7 I have shown my invention applied to an anticreeper of the bolt type. The device, as shown, consists of a pair of jaws 20, 21, secured together by a bolt 22 and. nut 23, one of the jaws, jaw 20 for example, being provided with a tie abutting flange 21. 1 have also shown the jaw 20 fitted with a hard metal insert piece 25, as is customary with this type of anchor, which is designed to bite into the rail, taking a better hold thereon than would the malleable iron of the jaw. In adapting my invention to the anchor just described, one of the jaws, for example jaw 20, is formed with a recess 26 in which is arranged a bowed spring 18 in position to bear against the edge of the base of the rail to which the anchor is secured.

In Fig. 8 I have shown the same expedient used in connection with a one-piece anchor. The anchor consists of a bar 27 formed at opposite ends with jaws 28 and 29 and at one end with a strut 30 adapted to bear against a tie. The jaw 28 stands out of contact with the tie with the result that the forward creeping movement of the rail rocks the device slightly on its strut 30 as a fulcrum, producing a cramping action calculated to prevent further creeping. An anchor of this sort is wholly ineffective, however, unless there is a sufficient initial grip to impart the necessary rocking movement to the anchor. Very frequently a change of temperature or the vibration of the rail under the trains or some other disturbance produces a looseness that makes the device wholly ineifective. To remedy this one of the jaws, for instance jaw 29, is furnished with a bowed spring 18 adapted to' bear against the edge of the rail base.

While I have described my invention in certain preferred embodiments and as applied to certain familiar types of rail anchors, it will be understood that modifications might be made in the form of the resilient element and in its disposition with respect to the anchor or its parts. It will also be understood that the device might be used in types of anticreeping devices other than those here shown for the purpose. of illustration. Therefore, I do not wish to be understood as limiting the invention to the particulars shown and described except so number of rail anchors of very meant? f far as they are made specifically limitations in certain of the claims herein. A large difi'erent construction and design have been'devised and put to the test of actual use onrailroad tracks. But few have proved satisfactory and of'these few none probably has proven adequate under all conditions. Where these devices have proven ineffective the cause is usually to be found in the changed conditions brought about byvariations in temperatures or to the vibration of the rail under the car Wheels. The temperature of the rail may vary over a very wide range from summer to winter and the variation may be considerable even as between night and day. As the rail and the anchor are certain not to contract and expand equally any considerable change in temperature from that at which the device was applied to the rail is certain to bring about some looseness. Variations in rail length due to expansion and contraction will periodically carry the rail anchor away from the tie, thus relieving the device of'the pressure which is often relied on to hold it in operative position on the rail. The vibratory or wave-like movements of the rail'under the stress of the car wheels tend to loosen the grip between the anchor and the rail, and between the parts of the anchor if it is made of more than one piece. The expedient which I have devised of intel-posing a resilient element or body or pro viding a partially resilient surface between the anchor and the rail, or between the parts of the anchor, for the purpose of absorbing vibration and taking up looseness, increases very materially the hold of the anchor on the rail under all conditions and thereby increases the effectiveness of the anchor for the purpose for which it is intended.

In the claims I have described the member or part of the anchor which operates to give the anchor a stationary position in the roadbed as a tie engaging member. It will be understood, however, that while rail anchors are ordinarily abutted against or otherwise engaged with the cross ties on which the rails are supported they might be abutted against or engaged with any other relatively stationary element of the roadbed.

I claim:

1. A rail anchor comprising a tie-engaging member, rail gripping means, one of the active surfaces of which is recessed, and an elastic element arranged in said recess which is compressed when said anchor is in operative position on the rail so that the elastic member and the aforesaid surface have frictional engagement with the surface opposed thereto.

2. A rail anchor comprising coengaging relatively movable members, one of which has a tie-engaging part and a normally i curved elastic element arranged between member and the said members so that it is flattened out when the device is in operative position on the rail.

3. A rail anchor comprising coengaging relatively movable members, one of which has a tie-engaging part and an elastic element arranged between said members so that it may be compressed to permit a frictional engagement between said members. 4. A rail anchor comprising coengaging relatively movable members, one of which has a tie-engaging part, one of said members being formed with a recess, and a spring arranged in said recess adapted to bear upon the other member.

5. A rail anchor comprising coengaging relatively movable members, one of which has a tie-engaging part, one of said members being formed with a recess, and a bowed leaf spring arranged in said recess find adapted to bear against the other mem- 6. A rail anchor comprising coengaging relatively movable members, one of which has a tie-engaging part and'a curved spring arranged between flattened out when the device is in operative position on the rail, said spring and the member against which it bears being formed with coengaging teeth.

7. A rail anchor comprising coengaging relatively movable members, one of which has a tie-engaging part, one of said members being formed ith a recess, and a bowed leaf spring arranged in said recess and adapted to bear against the other member, sald spring and the member against which said members so that it is it bears being formed with coengaging teeth.

8. rail anchor comprising a bar formed with jaws on opposite ends thereof, a wedge adapted to intervene between the edge of the rail and one of said jaws, and an elastic element interposed between said wedge and the inner surface of said jaw.

9. A rail anchor comprising a bar formed with jaws on opposite ends thereof, a wedge adapted to intervene between the edge of the rail and one of said jaws, and an elastic element interposed between said wedge and the inner surface of said jaw, said elastic surface against which it bears being formed with coengaging teeth.

10. A rail anchor comprising a bar formed with jaws on opposite ends thereof, a wedge adapted to intervene between one of said jaws and the edge of the rail, the outer surface of which wedge is formed with a recess, and a spring arranged in said recess so that it may be compressed to allow said outer surface of the wedge to come into frictional contact with the inner surface of the jaw.

11. A rail anchor comprising a frictional gripping surface which is in part rigid and in part resilient.

-.tiona1 gripping surface which is partly rigid and partly resilient.

13. A rail anchor comprising frictionally co-engaging means adapted to produce a tight grip on a rail, and a tie abutment, one

of said co-engagin tional gripping sur ace which is partly rigid and partly resilient, said resilient surface being adapted to be compressed flush with EDWARD LAAS.

said rigid surface.

Witnesses:

L. A. FALKENBERG, H. M. Gnmisrm.

means having a fric- 1) 

